


Captured

by siq_art



Series: The cold can't numb you and it can't numb your feelings. [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Author Doesn't Know How Things Work, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Torture, Past Brainwashing, Past Torture, Regret, Rod and Kisurin are in a relationship but it's not the focus so I'm calling this 'Gen', Torture Serum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25183591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siq_art/pseuds/siq_art
Summary: This is basically every second episode of Rebels but with my characters, who are without a doubt less competent than the Rebels crew. Kisurin gets captured by Imperials and Jacks, Rod, and Hohlan have to save him. Also should be noted that Kisurin is just... the worst at having and expressing feelings except sometimes sarcasm but that's okay because I still love him.I don't know how anything in Star Wars works and I don't want to. Things are going to be wrong in this and things aren't going to make sense in this but let it be known that I Don't Care. I'm just in this to have fun.
Series: The cold can't numb you and it can't numb your feelings. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818127
Kudos: 1





	1. Planning

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Rod asked, pacing back and forth in front of the holoterminal, the twitch of his lekku and his clenched fists betraying his nervousness. Across from him, Jacks shrugged, posture dismissive. She shared Rod’s worry, but managed to pull off a casual  demeanor , as by nature she was not as anxious as him. Besides, it wasn’t like this was the part of the plan that they needed to worry about. Jacks would have bet her life that Jodaan wouldn’t sell her own father out to the Imperials if she figured their plan out, but she was already betting Kisurin’s on it.

She stood up from the stool she had been sitting on, stretching as she stepped over to Rod’s side. “Sure, why not?” Jacks asked. “She’s just a kid. I don’t expect her to follow the intricacies of starship trespassing.” As Jacks spoke, she saw Rod’s brow furrow, a brief flash of disapproval crossing his face. Before he could scold Jacks for her underestimations of his daughter, however, Hohlan piped up.

“ Jacks, she’s 15, not an idiot. Life on Ryloth is hard these days, too, so don’t assume she lacks that much experience.”

Rod nodded as Hohlan spoke and Jacks scoffed. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to take this seriously. She was, in fact, acting as appropriately as she could manage, even if her companions didn’t appreciate her effort. She was trying as hard as she could to be patient among their schematics and outlining, but as far as she was concerned, getting Kisurin back was their number one priority. They didn’t have time for playing pretend with teenagers.

“ So why can’t we just tell her what’s up? Since you think she can handle it. She’s not gonna sell Rod to the Empire…” Jacks muttered, echoing her previous thoughts. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the edge of the holoterminal, swivelling to face Rod.

He shook his head. “I don’t know how to encrypt the call. Neither do you and Hohlan. I don’t doubt Jodaan’s loyalty, Jacks, of course I don’t, but… We can’t risk being overheard. Not with Kisurin in such a delicate situation. What do you think they’ll do to him if they get wind of this? Hell, what do you think they’d do to my daughter if they found out she was collaborating!?” Rod asked and Jacks fell silent during the moment she took to process the sensation of her blood turning to lead. She hadn’t thought of that.

Even if Kisurin had left the Order before the end of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire, he was still seen as a Jedi by most and Jacks doubted the Empire was willing to show him mercy based on a technicality. They certainly hadn’t shown him mercy when they captured him. Jacks shuddered at the memory of his unconscious body being dragged away by those Imperials, Inquisitors, she believed they had been called. She wished she could have done more to stop him from being taken but she knew she wouldn’t have stood a chance and Jodaan’s odds would be significantly lesser if they came after  _ her _ .

A hand touched Jacks’ shoulder, startling her. She blinked from her daze to meet Rod’s golden eyes, registering the sympathy in them. His gesture was one of attempted comforting and Jacks knew he must have followed her train of thought.

“Sorry…” she said. Her voice was very small. “I hadn’t thought of that. We’ll… do the plan your way. Let’s call Jodaan now.”

Rod nodded in agreement, leaning over to the terminal to enter Jodaan’s holofrequency. Jacks ducked out of the way of the shot, feeling the tension tighten in the air as the ringing noise filled the room, repeating until Jodaan answered.

“Hey, dad. Something the matter?” Jodaan greeted Rod, quickly taking note of the less-than-pleased expression on Rod’s face. He had managed to shift his scowl from the face of someone whose close friend and partner had been captured by Imperials to the look of someone who was experiencing a major technology-related setback.

Rod blinked a couple of times and forced a smile. “I’ll get there in a second. How are you, honey? How’s your sister?” he asked and Jacks forced herself to push her annoyance aside. She now recognized why this cautiousness was necessitated, and Rod acting natural would help the illusion that everything was fine.

Jodaan’s holographic form stared down at Rod, and she sighed, fingers expressing her worry as they drummed patterns over her headdress. “I’m fine, dad. Rai’Wen’s fine. Better than you, yeah? Spit out what’s bugging you.” She said, her native accent accentuated in her annoyance. Rod grinned apologetically.

He spent the next few minutes explaining to Jodaan that he was having issues with his personal console, and had been locked out of it, feeding his daughter the make and model of the computers the Imperial Star Destroyer used. Jacks was surprised at the patience the girl showed as she explained to her father how to jailbreak the console without showing exasperation at his technological illiteracy. As she spoke, Hohlan sat out of the holoterminal’s view, taking notes on hir datapad at an impressive speed.

“Got all that?” Jodaan asked once she had walked him through what Jacks understood to be an imposing number of detailed steps. Rod gave an uncertain laugh in answer and Jodaan replied with a teasing snort, adding “If you can’t figure it out, repeat my instructions to Jacks. I’m sure she’ll give you a hand.” As her father nodded, Jodaan’s gaze softened from a playful one to something more tender. “Father, stay safe out there. I love you.” she said, and Jacks exchanged a glance with Hohlan. As their eyes met, Jacks knew they shared an understanding. Both of them had heard the knowing note in Jodaan’s voice. Perhaps Hohlan’s suspicions about her perceptiveness were right.

The quiver in Rod’s lip as his breath hitched told Jacks that he had noticed Jodaan’s tone as well, but he straightened up before his reply. “I love you too, kiddo. Don’t worry about me. I’ll see you soon.” he said, then smiled as he hung up the call before dropping the act once his daughter’s image was no longer visible. Jacks’ chest tightened at the expression written across his face, as she empathized with how he felt. They all knew that retrieving Kisurin was risky business. There was no guarantee they’d all make it out alive.

Rod’s fingers dug into the edge of the holoterminal as he clenched his jaw. Jacks suspected he was trying not to cry.

“I pray to the Stars I’ll see you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jodaan is Rod's badass 15 year old daughter. She's a slicer. Rai'Wen is her twin sister and doesn't appear in this chapter.


	2. Infiltrating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacks an Rod sneak onto a Star Destroyer

Jacks had never realized just how hard it was to wear a helmet before. It was hot, itchy, hard to see… She could barely tell where to aim her blaster, or rather the blaster of the recruit whose uniform she had stolen. The discomfort of the armor she was wearing did nothing to help ease the stress of the situation, nor did the knowledge that if she was seen on the Destroyer without the helmet on, she would immediately be known as a spy. The Empire had never been fond of non-humans and though she may not have been as obviously alien as Rod, who had just barely managed to squeeze his lekku into a stormtrooper’s helmet and was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, her green skin and the remnants of her traditional tattoos were a dead giveaway of her Mirialan heritage.

She glanced over at Rod, not needing to see his face to feel his anxiety through the Force. He had wanted to stay back with the ship, but Hohlan had argued that there was no way hir montrals would fit into a helmet and besides, ze was a better pilot than him anyways. Jacks had interjected that she could go in alone, but neither Rod nor Hohlan felt comfortable with that. To be honest, Jacks hadn’t either, but she didn’t want Rod’s nervousness giving them away. Still, despite the fear she sensed in him, the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that leeched into the Force around him, Rod would have seemed calm to any passing stormtrooper. Jacks silently commended him on staying as inconspicuous as he had.

The pair of them made their way through the ship, painfully aware of how little time they had and how delicate their schedule was. If they tripped any alarms before the starship took off, they’d have every stormtrooper and Imperial officer in the refuelling station on there position (and on entry, Jacks had counted several other Star Destroyers nearby). On the other hand, if they didn’t find Kisurin in time and the ship jumped to Hyperspace, they would be stranded until they reached whatever destination that Kisurin was doomed to land at. In the span of a few short hours, Rod and Jacks would have to slice into a console to find Kisurin’s cell, go there, slice into the door, free him, and make their way to a ship or escape pod so they could meet up with Hohlan, who was waiting at the edge of the Hyperspace lane in hir ship. Ze hadn’t been able to drop them off while the ship was mobile as the _Javelin_ didn’t have cloaking abilities, but if Jacks and Rod timed their escape properly, ze should be able to pick them up. Jacks had gone over the plan a thousand times in her mind, but the precarious nature of it still stressed her out.

Rod’s elbow connected with her side, a gentle action meant to catch her attention. She turned to look at him, wincing at the way the helmet pulled at her ponytails when she moved her head.

Rod gestured at a wall-mounted computer. “I think this is a good spot to slice in. It’s pretty out of the way here, and should have a map built in.” He said, and Jack couldn’t help but notice the Godawful fake-Imperial accent he put on. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“What,” Jacks sighed, “Are you doing? Stop that. That’s the worst accent I’ve ever heard.” She said, amused despite the stressful nature of their mission. Sometimes funny was funny, even if one’s friend was in mortal danger.

Shrugging, Rod turned his head away. Jacks sensed embarrassment behind the helmet. “I… I mean it’s not that bad, right? Besides, you have the accent.” He mumbled and Jacks barked in laughter.

“Yeah, that’s just my accent, you twit. The one I was raised with. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice that!” Jacks said, incredulous, and Rod shuffled in discomfort. Jacks guessed that his so-called accent had actually been a poor attempt at imitating hers. She whacked him across the back. “Just stick to what you usually do. Plenty of stormtroopers around here sound like that and _hopefully_ we won’t have to talk to anyone anyways.” She instructed, glad the helmet hid her amused grin. She pretended not to hear the indignant _Hmph!_ sound Rod made as he turned to face the console.

Jacks stood nearby him as he worked, reading each consecutive instruction off his datapad while he tried to ascertain Kisurin’s whereabouts from the computer. After a few minutes and many whispers of _this would be so much easier if we had a droid_ on Jacks’ part, Rod had managed to gain system access and was sifting through the data. He was still busy inspecting it when Jacks heard footsteps approaching. Glancing up from the datapad, she saw a single stormtrooper heading down the halls, walking in a relaxed, patrolling gait. She cursed under her breath, then muttered a warning to Rod, though she held her position. She and Rod were in an L-shaped room, standing at the juncture between both paths. It wouldn’t be difficult for them to make an escape through the unoccupied route but unless they roused the stormtrooper’s suspicion she didn’t want to draw any attention to them.

Be it her luck, the stormtrooper called out to her. Jacks noted, with a flash of smugness, that he didn’t speak with an accent. “You there! Recruit! What are you doing down here? Shouldn’t you be at your station? We’re about to start takeoff procedure.”

Raising her head so that the viewplate of her helmet bored into the stormtroopers, Jacks took in the sight of him. His armor was smooth and clean, as most Imperial armor tended to be, but even through the subpar view on her helmet, she could see small nicks from where the armor had, presumably, been knocked around in combat. Gleaning that the stormtrooper had seen at least some battle, she decided against fighting him unless it was necessary. She glanced at Rod, then back at him, comparing the colors of their pauldrons. Rod’s was red, while the stormtrooper she faced was in white. If she remembered correctly, that meant Rod outranked him.

“Right, sir, but the Commander asked me to assist him here.” Jacks said, voice filled with empty confidence, as if she had no doubts that she was supposed to be here. She grinned, though she knew that was silly; she was wearing a helmet. There was no way he could see her face.

The stormtrooper’s body language changed, his head tilted slightly as he processed her words. At the very least, Jacks had caused him to hesitate. “Oh, um, okay then. What exactly are you helping him with?” He questioned after a brief pause to collect his thoughts.

Under her visor, Jacks’ grin widened as she struck an innocent pose, hands clasped behind her back. “Sir, I was taught not to question my CO’s orders.” She tried her best to keep her tone somewhere between respectful and singsong-y. The stormtrooper’s shoulders stiffened and Jacks could sense his uncertainty. She decided to push a little further. “Did you not receive the same training, sir? I wouldn’t dare think you’re questioning a Commander’s motives.”

Jacks heard the man splutter quietly as he tried to find the words. She could tell he was flustered, and her connection to the Force allowed her an unfortunate insight to what he believed their cause for being there was. While he was frozen in thought, Rod spoke, calling over his shoulder.

“Move along soldier. Forget you saw us here.”

Thankfully, he had dropped the horrendous accent, and the stormtrooper’s posture relaxed as he continued walking. “Yes sir. And with all due respect, sir, there are better places on the ship for fraternization.” he said as he continued past them down the other branch of the hall. Jacks hit her helmet against the wall as soon as he was clear of them. “I don’t want to know what he thought.” she grumbled, and Rod grunted in reply as he stepped away from the console, powering it down.

“Try not to think about it. I found where they’re holding Kisur. We should move out. They’re about to take off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically the stormtrooper thought they were there to make out. Jacks and Rod both resent that thought but like under the armor and helmet you can't tell the, like, 20 year age gap so.


	3. Remembering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisurin has time to think, alone in his cell.

It was hard to tell how long Kisurin had been in the cell. There was no daylight, and due to the irregularity of the way he kept falling unconscious, he couldn’t even tell from his sleep cycle. His mouth was dry; he hadn’t been given any water. Maybe that was the best indicator of time: the fact that he hadn’t died of dehydration. His muscles ached and his head swam. Any time he raised his eyes to look at the lights inset in the walls, he felt his stomach lurch.  T he shuddering of the ship’s engines, radiating through his body from where his back was pressed against the wall,  had a similar effect . He thought it a miracle he hadn’t yet thrown up.  When the engines fell silent as the ship docked, h e had breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps another miracle, in a roundabout way, was the fact that he was chained up. Every tiny movement he dared to make set h is nerve endings aflame, igniting a cold fire that scratched at his bones, stemming from the torture serum still present in his blood. The injuries he had sustained also throbbed with a sharp ache, in time with the beat of his heart, and Kisurin had to force himself not to whimper with every pulse of agony. His throat was much too dry for that. There was not much he could do besides wait, either for the Inquisitor to return or to slip away into unconsciousness again. Or, he added as a dim afterthought, to be rescued.

The Inquisitor who held him here was a woman, Kisurin knew, but he didn’t know much else about her. Her disposition was cruel, tinged with the icy grip of the Dark Side that the Empire had guided her to. He didn’t know if she had been a Jedi or if she knew of his past second-hand, but throughout her torture of him, she kept bringing up memories that stung worse than the serum or the instruments. She said _his_ name as if she was worthy of it, a name that even Kisurin had only said a few times in the decade and a half since his death.

He had started out the torture session strong-willed and resolute, spitting out retort after retort against her questioning. Even through the agony of the drugs that had been injected in him, he had managed to stay calm. Once she said his name, though, once she recited back to Kisurin all the things he had done…

“ _ You killed him, didn’t you? You faced him down and pierced your lightsaber through his chest. I bet it hurt him. You don’t always die right away, you know, when you get stabbed like that. Did he look you in the eyes, maybe gurgle your name as he took his final breath? Did he whimper ‘Master, why?’ as he faded away, knowing you had betrayed him? Did he?” _

Kisurin had tried to tell her it hadn’t been his fault, that his mind and thoughts and  goals  weren’t his own, that someone else had been controlling his actions. The  Separatists , did she remember the  Separatists ? He had babbled explanations and excuses as tears rolled down his cheeks and she had just laughed. Even though the serum she had given him dulled his senses and his connection to the Force, he could feel the sadistic glee emitting from her. He had hung his head in shame.

Now he was alone, stripped of his belongings and chained flush against the wall. He almost found himself wishing the Inquisitor would return, either to put him out of his misery or distract him from the Hell that stirred in his thoughts. She had been right. Everything she had said was right. Kisurin _had_ betrayed him. He should have protected him, kept him safe from anyone who would hurt him, but in the end, Kisurin hadn’t been strong enough to resist whatever the Separatists had done to him to strip his mind away. He should never have left the Order. If he had stayed, he’d be dead, but at least he could have died by Hamlen’s side, or even given him a chance to escape. If he had just been there…

Kisurin jerked his mind away from those thoughts, not wanting to help the Inquisitor in her job of inflicting him pain. He was crying again, tears collecting in the corners of his eyes and dripping to the floor. He stared at them, though the movement  of them falling made him dizzy. His thoughts shifted to something more recent: his capture. He hadn’t seen much in the moments before the blow to his head knocked him unconscious, but it had looked like Jacks, Rod, and Hohlan had a clear route to escape. He didn’t think they’d be captured, or maybe that was wishful thinking. He thought, as the serum dulling his senses began to wear off, that he had perceived Jacks’ presence. He hoped it was nothing, a hallucinatory side-effect of the drugs.

As Kisurin’s tears at last ran dry, he sniffled, nose runny from crying, and the resulting pressure in his head made his vision darken at the edges. At the same moment, he felt the ship’s engines once again roaring to life. A strong wave of nausea crashed over him and he tensed up as not to be sick. He could hear footsteps outside, probably stormtroopers on patrol guarding the cells. Each footfall echoed through his skull, but he didn’t think much of it. 

A pounding knock came  to his door.

Confusion filled Kisurin. The Inquisitor never bothered knocking; she had no need to. Had one of the stormtroopers heard his sobs and come to tell him to shut up? The person-- no, people --outside his cell spoke and Kisurin’s heart skipped a beat.

“ Hello? Anyone home?” Said one voice, feminine and accented, with a hint of a sarcastic undertone. The other, deeper and male, spoke his name in a concerned and uncertain  pitch . Kisurin knew both of them. Making sure to keep his head titled at an angle so the cameras wouldn’t see the movement of his mouth, Kisurin replied to his friends’ call.

“ I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I don't know who the Inquisitor is. She's one of 'em, I'll tell ya that.


	4. Improvising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding Kisurin is one thing, getting into the cell is another. This would be a lot easier if you guys had a droid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter relies kinda heavily on parts of Live On, so like. Read that first maybe?

“Ugh it’s got to be around here somewhere!” Jacks groaned, rummaging through the security guard’s locker. It had been Rod’s best guess as to where the Imperials had put Kisurin’s belongings. Everything seemed more intense now that they had found him, like there was more pressure on them now that Kisurin knew they were here to rescue him. It took Jacks a while to place that feeling, but she came to realize it was the fear of him knowing she had failed him. Her hands trembled slightly under the black gloves of her stolen uniform before Rod’s voice interrupted her thoughts, calling out from the doorway, where he stood guard.

“Well, we don’t have all day, Jacks. If we don’t get his lightsaber we’re not getting in that cell.” he said and Jacks nodded, the sinking feeling in her gut intensifying. It wasn’t just Kisurin she’d have to worry about failing, it was Rod too. She doubted she’d be able to look at him again if she caused Kisurin’s death, assuming they survived the trip back to Hohlan. She placed her hand on the wall beside the locker for support, closing her eyes and hoping the Force would guide her towards Kisurin’s weapon.

At first there was nothing; Jacks didn’t sense anything familiar, but after a moment… What was that feeling, that glimmer in the Force? It wasn’t Kisurin but… she had felt this presence before, after they had been attacked on Viodgellan III. Jacks closed the locker she had been in and moved towards the one at the end of the row. It was bolted shut, but she was certain enough that Kisurin’s belongings were in it to take out her blaster and shoot it. There was a brief flash of light as the bolt connected, melting the lock enough that she was able to kick it the rest of the way and the door swung open. The unconscious security guard on the floor groaned and Jacks froze, but when he didn’t offer any further movement, she reached inside, ignoring Rod as he poked his head in the room to inquire about the shot he had heard.

Kisurin’s shoulder-bag was crumpled at the bottom of the locker and Jacks knelt down to sift through it for the presence she had felt before. Towel? No. Tools? No. Holodisc? No. More holodiscs? No, and why did Kisurin have so many? Having an idea of where to look, she ran her fingers over the inner seams of the bag. They brushed across a clasp and she opened it so fast she thought for a moment she might have ripped some of the stitching. Digging into the secret compartment, she pulled out the two lightsabers Kisurin had used during their first meeting with the Inquisitors a few months ago in that Temple on Viodgellan. Hamlen, Kisurin’s last padawan’s sabers.

Keeping one in her hand and throwing the other back in the bag, though outside of the compartment this time, she ran back to Rod, stepping over the guard they had knocked out. She knew they were going to alert people to their presence soon enough anyway, but she’d rather get back to Kisurin before he woke up.

“Find it?” Rod asked, eyeing the weapon in her hand. Jacks shifted, uncertainty at how to answer that filling her.

“Kind of? It’s not… it’s not his, but it’ll get us through the door.” She answered. “'Course, we wouldn’t need it if you could have sliced the door.”

Jacks heard Rod scoff and mutter something about how she was welcome to have a go at it if she wanted, though they both knew that wasn’t true. Rod had explained that the lock was programmed to detect slicing and if either of them made a mistake, guards would be upon them in minutes. Seeing as neither of them were slicers, and seeing as Kisurin would also probably like his lightsaber back, they decided to go with the ‘cut it open’ option.

“Jacks?” Rod asked as they walked, careful to make their way back to Kisurin’s cell without being noticed. “Is that his bag?”

Jacks looked down at the bag she had slung over her shoulder, suddenly feeling self-conscious about it. It was worn brown leather against her black and white armor, and the metal ring inset around the hole in the strap to accommodate Kisurin’s horns glinted in the overhead light. She doubted it was standard stormtrooper procedure to carry something like that.

“Uh, it is, yeah.” She answered, bracing herself for the next question she knew Rod was bound to ask.

“But that’s not his lightsaber. Where’d you get it?” Yep, there it was. Even though Jacks had anticipated the question, she still winced at the prospect of having to answer it. Even if Hamlen had died fifteen years before she had even met Kisurin, the bond she and her master shared through the Force left prickles of pain at the thought of Hamlen’s death. She took a deep breath.

“It was one of Hamlen’s.” she answered, and even though she couldn’t see Rod’s face, she saw him dip his head in solemnity. Rod, unlike Jacks, had known Kisurin during the Clone Wars, and had met Hamlen before his death. After Jacks had found out about it, she had tried asking Rod about him, but Rod never told her much more than the fact that he had known him, as Kisurin seemed to sense it every time he would try and appear nearby to change the topic. Neither Rod nor Jacks ever pushed the subject after that, not after seeing the look on Kisurin’s face.

The walk to Kisurin’s cell was a short one, but as they neared it, Jacks heard alarms start to sound and flashes of red lit the hallways as the emergency lights activated. She had no doubts that this was because of them, and assumed that the guard must have woken up, sounding the intruder alert.

“Oh, _kark._ ” She grumbled, sprinting the rest of the distance to Kisurin’s cell, Rod hot on her heels. She wasted no time in getting the lightsaber to work, igniting it and plunging it into the metal of the cell door, pushing downwards in a circle shape as the sound of footsteps, boots to metal floor, filled the hall. She heard voices: Rod’s from beside her, Kisurin from inside the cell, and stormtroopers’, as they came into view. 

“A Jedi!” one called and Jacks cursed again, pulling the lightsaber from the door to block the blaster bolt that came speeding her way. Soon, stormtroopers on both sides of the cell door were shooting at her and she did her best to deflect them all, relying more on the Force and her instincts than any training she had been given. By good luck, the stormtroopers kept their distance as they fired. Jacks figured they were wary of getting within lightsaber range.

Due to the need to deflect the bolts, she wasn’t cutting through the door. Of course, she’d have to deal with the stormtroopers before being able to rescue Kisurin, but a few of the shots she’d deflected, as well as shots from Rod’s rifle, had hit some of the soldiers, who now lay on the floor. However, she still wasn’t making progress with the door and they really weren’t made of time here, so on impulse, she made the decision to reach into Kisurin’s bag, grabbing the second lightsaber and thrusting it at Rod.

“Take it!” she said and Rod dropped his rifle, moving to where Jacks had been and switched it on, stumbling in surprise as it hummed to life. “Don’t hurt yourself.” she muttered as he got his balance before plunging back into the door.

His work was sloppy, but in the time it took for Jacks to finish off the rest of the stormtroopers, getting the final few with a Force-push, Rod had managed to carve through the door and rushed forward to free Kisurin from his restraints. Jacks moved into the room as well, down the few steps into the cell, using the lightsaber in her hand to cut the chains bolting him to the wall. Kisurin fell to his knees and Rod helped him up, handing him the lightsaber as he did so.

“Kriff, Kisurin, what did they do to you?” Rod murmured, voice soft and comforting as Kisurin took the lightsaber, ignoring Kisurin’s reply of “ _torture, mostly.”_ Jacks felt Kisurin tense up as he touched it, the grief mingling with the physical pain she sensed from him. 

“We couldn’t find yours. I’m sorry.” Jacks blurted out, and Kisurin answered with a dark chuckle.

“I know who has it, and I have no doubt we’ll run into her on our way out.”


	5. Cornering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, people who have been tortured tend not to, like, feel great. And sometimes that can affect, oh, I don't know, fighting or something like that heh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I didn't want to put this in the tags because uh, that tag seems to be, uh sickfic focused and this ain't that but Kisurin does throw up in this chapter. It's not like detailed or anything but like, stay safe? If that bothers you?

Kisurin was having trouble keeping up, even with Rod’s help. His arm was draped over Rod’s shoulder (while Rod’s reciprocation of the action required him to put his hand on Kisurin’s back to avoid his horns) but Kisurin’s steps were still off balance. His head spun; he had trouble breathing. Each step he took as they avoided their pursuers was clumsy, sometimes so clumsy he stepped on his own foot. It may have been more accurate to describe his motion as being dragged by Rod, as opposed to running alongside him. The voices of his friends urging him to move faster were all but canceled out by the drone of the lightsaber held limply in his hand as he struggled to keep moving.

The lightsaber Jacks held hummed as well, whirring every now and again as they encountered a Stormtrooper who immediately raised his blaster at them. The rush of pride of how far she had come in the few short months he had been training her, how strong she was becoming with the Force was far-off, echoing through the fog in his mind. Rod held a weapon too, Kisurin distantly registered, a blaster, though Kisurin hadn’t heard it fire yet. The realization that this was presumably because Rod held it in one hand, thus greatly reducing the functionality and accuracy of it hung out of reach for a minute before it hit him.

The halls swirled in and out of his distorted view, the green reflections of both lightsabers shimmering and bouncing off the metal surfaces. Kisurin felt sick. It took him a moment to grasp through the dizziness that he _was going to_ be sick and he managed to splutter out to Rod that they needed to stop. He heard Jacks mutter something about having to get moving, but she trailed off as she saw the look on his face, moving back before he emptied the contents of his stomach onto her shoes.

“Sorry,” Kisurin coughed, extinguishing his lightsaber so he could safely wipe his face. His voice was hoarse and scratchy, making talking hurt even more than it already had. “I think it’s the… serum they gave me.” he said as he righted himself, igniting the blade of the lightsaber once more, wincing as the noise pounded against his headache. _Either the serum or the pain._

Although Jacks and Rod both quickly affirmed that they did not hold it against him, the moment’s pause they had taken was proven to have repercussions, with Stormtroopers approaching from either side of the hallway. Rod made to hoist Kisurin back against his shoulder but as he took a quick survey of their position, surrounded by the enemy, he grimaced, shifting so that Kisurin’s arm was no longer draped over him and positioned him to lean against the wall. An instinctive grunt of pain and protest escaped Kisurin as Rod moved him, but he hadn’t the strength to oppose the action, still panting and recovering from throwing up. He saw the sympathy in the look Rod gave him as he raised his blaster.

The Stormtroopers opened fire, dozens of bolts flying towards them, flashing bright in Kisurin’s eyes. He fought back the returning urge to vomit the flashes gave him; he knew his stomach was empty anyways. Jacks darted in front of him and Rod, blade a blur of shining green as she deflected shot after shot. The sound of Rod’s rifle sounded nearby, each shot he fired pulsing against Kisurin’s ears. He tried to find comfort, safety, in the presence of the Force, but concentration was difficult.

Someone spoke. A Stormtrooper, Kisurin deduced, as the voice was both too distant and too unfamiliar to belong to either of his allies. “Sir, we’ve found the prisoner. He’s trying to escape with two others: a Twi’Lek and a… a young woman with a lightsaber.”

There was a pause with no sound but the lightsabers and blaster fire, then the crackle of comms static. “ _Wonderful, captain. Keep them there, and keep them alive if you can. I’d like a word with them.”_

Kisurin’s blood froze at the voice. Although it had been distorted and held the tinny quality comms chatter tended to have, he recognized it as the woman who had been interrogating him. They needed to get out of there fast. Although he knew escaping the Destroyer without confronting her would be unlikely, this was not the place to do it. They were surrounded, and although Jack’s defense was holding for now, the few shots Rod had fired that had found their mark did little to thin the Stormtrooper numbers. The Stormtroopers, although individually were no more accurate in their aim, had enough firepower as a group that Jacks was beginning to tire. Kisurin could see the heaving of her chest beneath her stolen armor; he could sense her fear that this was the end. He felt so helpless, so weak, and he hated it. He closed his eyes, begging to the Force for strength.

A moment’s meditation was all he could spare, but the edges of his mind were sharper now. He knew he didn’t have the strength for direct combat and that if he exerted himself here he would later pay the price, but in the moment, in that desperate moment, it didn’t matter. He drew a long breath in and lifted his lightsaber, holding it in both hands to offset the way they trembled, turning his gaze to Jacks.

“Take them out.” he said, and her returning glance was filled with uncertainty and sadness.

“Master--"

Kisurin felt a twinge of guilt as she spoke. Jacks tended to only call him by title if she was uncertain of her abilities or fearful for her life. Kisurin reckoned it was, at present, a mixture of both. He set his jaw.

“Take them out, Jacks, I’ll handle defense.”

Her hesitation vanished, although he could still sense her reluctance to leave his side. She sprung away from him and Rod, leaving Kisurin but a moment to raise the lightsaber and shift into a defensive form, keeping the blaster fire from hitting him and Rod. As it turned out, that got considerably easier after a moment, as the Stormtroopers were helpless facing the quick-moving Jacks as she leapt from body to body, plunging her lightsaber into the soldiers in swift, precise jabs and slices. Kisurin noticed that, for the most part, she went for incapacitating them rather than killing them, predominantly destroying their weapons, but also leaving a few with sizzling wounds on their hands and legs.

Once the majority of them were disarmed or otherwise unable to fight, Jacks landed back beside Kisurin. Her breathing was heavy, but she wore a grin that Kisurin returned as she looked at him. She called on the Force and used it to push the soldiers that still stood to the ground as Kisurin exhaled, feeling more exhausted than before. He looped his arm around Rod’s shoulders, leaning his weight on him as they took off in the direction of the escape pods again.

“Good fighting, Jacks. You’re becoming quite the Jedi.” Kisurin smiled as he murmured the praise, proud of how his student had fought.

Jacks laughed and looked at him over her shoulder, voice casual despite the emotion and appreciation brimming in her eyes. “You weren’t half bad for someone who can barely stand, old man.” she teased, then leaned down, kneeling beside an injured Stormtrooper, unclipping a pistol from his belt. “I’m taking this,” she said, picking up the weapon and twirling it in her hand. The Stormtrooper only groaned in response and Kisurin rolled his eyes, unable to mask his amusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee I should probably get some idea as to who the Inquisitor is seeing as we're gonna face her next chapter. Too bad I probably,,, won't,,,, do that,,,,,
> 
> Anyways I think the next chapter will either be the penultimate chapter or the last one? Not sure the most I planned this out was a hastily written concept in my notes app a few months ago lmao. Like I know what's going to happen, VAGUELY, but for the most part I'm just feeling it out as I go.


	6. Confronting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing makes sense, and I'm so tired, but GDI, I have to update SOMETIME, right? Oop, we're getting that Jacks lore. And that Kisurin lore. And Rod does things lmao. Oh right, like, they fight her. The Inquisitor or whatever. No, I don't know who she is. It doesn't matter lmao.

Jacks’ heart pounded in her chest as she tried to catch her breath, cherishing the moment in which she could do so as she knew the hallways ahead held nothing but obstacles. She doubted what little time she had to rest would be enough for her to recover completely, but running had been the only option they had had. Kisurin had managed to shake off some of the torture drugs effects, but he was still very far from being in a condition to fight. Jacks could hold off stormtroopers by herself, but fighting an Inquisitor was a whole other deal, especially with both her combat partners incapacitated. She hadn’t even been able to snatch Kisurin’s lightsaber from the Inquisitor, despite seeing it dangling on her belt. 

It was difficult for Jacks to imagine how they were going to get out of this. Even if they could make it to the escape pods, would they be able to avoid being blasted apart by the ship’s  turbolasers until Hohlan could scoop them up in the  _Javelin_ ? And would the  _Javelin_ be able to make it into hyperspace? Hell, even those worries seemed so far off, as Jacks was having trouble imagining getting to the end of the hallway before another squadron of stormtroopers was upon them. Despite all the planning that had gone into this rescue mission, it fel t like chaos. 

A voice snapped her out of her anxieties.

“Jacks, she’s catching up. I can sense her.”  Kisurin said, his voice still strained from his ordeal in the torture chambers. Jacks nodded, and Rod took over where Kisurin left off.

“We need a plan.” he added. “Kisur’s in no condition to continue running but he’s in even less of a condition  to win this  fight. To ambush her is our... best bet... but I don’t think you need me to tell you it will a tricky maneuver to execute.” 

Rod paused, shifting the supporting arm around Kisurin’s back to hoist him higher, allowing Rod to turn his body to get a better view of the surroundings. As his eyes swept the corridor, Jacks could see the gears turning in his head, a plan beginning to formulate. Jack’s stomach churned nervously as she waited for him to speak. Like Kisurin, she sensed the approaching danger of the Inquisitor, the coldness in the Force warning her of the imminent confrontation. She glanced at Kisurin to see him biting at the piercing on his lip, the subconscious habit echoing the fear Jacks felt. At last, the look in Rod’s eyes solidified, and he straightened up.

“Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

* * *

The inside of the  air ducts were cramped and stuffy. Jacks could feel the dust tickling her nose. She tried to press her face closer to the grate, both in order to see what was going on and to get better airflow. Keeping her breathing even and her heartbeat steady was important right now, as the entire plan was resting on her completing her part  and catching the Inquisitor off guard . The high stakes made her stomach churn into knots, but if they could get Kisurin out of here, it would all be worth it. 

She saw him below, leaning forward, hands on his knees as he panted, trying to catch his breath. Rod was beside him, rubbing his back to comfort him, and Jacks hoped that the two of them would have the strength to hold the Inquisitor off long enough for the ambush to work. Despite what Kisurin had reassured them, Jacks doubted he’d be able to hold out long, not after what he had pulled during their encounter with the stormtroopers. It was clear he was pushing his limits... and his luck.

Kisurin looked up at her, his golden eyes wide with intensity in a way that sent a shiver through Jacks’ spine and she bit down on her lip as he gave a short nod just as an overwhelming sensation of cold, danger, the urge to run and hide, came flooding through the corridor. From her vantage point in the ducts, Jacks couldn’t see the source of it, but she knew who it must have been.

His eyes fixed ahead, Kisurin straightened up, a pained exhale slipping through his lips as he slid into a battle stance, a green glow filling the hall as he ignited both of the lightsabers he held. Jacks heard them hum for a moment before came the sound of another activating and she saw the fainter glow of a red light from down the hall.

A voice spoke, one that Jacks didn’t know but still recognized as it had been on the Stormtrooper’s comms earlier. “You didn’t think you could _run_ from me, did you Jedi?” said the voice and Jacks felt a chill run down her spine. She could feel the hatred in her voice and the instinct to escape was stronger now. Jacks deftly shoved it aside as she awaited Kisurin’s reply.

“Well, the night’s still young.” Kisurin said, wincing as he half-shrugged a shoulder, then spun one of his lightsabers in his hand. Rod raised his rifle and Jacks saw him shuffle a step backwards. The Inquisitor must have as well, as Jacks heard the click of her boots against the floor as she stepped closer before closing the rest of the distance by leaping forwards. Jacks bit her lip harder as not to gasp when she was upon Kisurin, the double blades of her lightsaber connecting with the ones Kisurin had raised to deflect. Sparks shot off from the connection and Kisurin strained to keep her from breaking through.

Rod, who had backed out of view, fired a shot at her and she pulled her lightsaber off of Kisurin to block the bolt before spinning the other end of it at him again in a single, fluid motion. Tired as he was, he barely had time to deflect, and the block was sloppy, pushing him back several feet. The Inquisitor flourished her lightsaber, following after him, giving Jacks a good view of her.

She saw the lightsaber hanging off her belt. _Kisurin’s_ lightsaber hanging off her belt.

Slowly, Jacks pushed the grate aside, careful to keep the noise she made lower than the  drone of the lightsabers and Rod’s occasional blaster shots. Once she had enough room, she shifted her arm forwards, closing her eyes and feeling Kisurin’s lightsaber through the Force. She focused on it, on the clasp that held it to the belt, trusting in Kisurin and Rod to keep the Inquisitor distracted while she worked. 

The Inquisitor spoke again, startling Jacks and making her lose her grasp on the clip, holding her breath and listening before trying again.

“Where’s your padawan, Jedi?” the Inquisitor asked, and Jacks froze, staying still, wondering if her timing was coincidence or if her presence had been noticed. She opened her eyes, but the Inquisitor was still looking at Kisurin, to her relief.

Kisurin gritted his teeth and pushed back against the Inquisitor’s attack before replying. “Sent her to the hangar.” he lied. “Not much use escaping if we don’t have a ship, and I figured you and I have a score to settle.”

The Inquisitor laughed and Jacks still did not move. Had she seen through his lie? Did she know where Jacks was? Was she just toying with Kisurin? She threw several strikes at Kisurin, laughter getting louder as Kisurin blocked them. He hadn’t managed to do anything but block her yet, and was already breathing hard. He didn’t look like he could take much more of this. Jacks, realizing the urgency, reached out for the lightsaber once more.

“ Is that so?” The Inquisitor  taunted , “And here I thought you were just afraid of what I might tell her. About you, about what you’ve done...” Her voice was gleeful and Jacks saw Kisurin’s defence falter for a split second, her lightsaber breaking his block and grazing his arm before he managed to leap back and raise his blades once more. Jacks’ brow furrowed. Was he finally falling to exhaustion? She couldn’t blame him if so, but the look on his face told Jacks there was something she was missing.

The Inquisitor continued.

“She doesn’t know, does she?” She cackled. Jacks managed to unclip the lightsaber from her belt as she spoke. She slowly lifted it into the air, pulling it towards her. If the Inquisitor noticed, she didn’t say so, striking again and again at Kisurin until he had fallen to one knee. The Inquisitor deflected Rod’s retaliating blaster fire, directing them so that each nearly hit Kisurin. Toying with Rod, Jacks guessed. She felt her hands shake as the lightsaber floated closer.

“I’m surprised you can still hold those lightsabers after what you did.” The Inquisitor snarled. “Were they a trophy for your kill? What do you think Hamlen would say if he knew you’d kept them?”

Kisurin’s reaction was immediate, dropping to his hands and knees, lightsabers powering off. Jacks couldn’t tell from the angle she was at, but it looked like he was crying. The Inquisitor raised her lightsaber to strike again, and he wasn’t defending.

Jacks let her Force-grip on the lightsaber release, pushing herself through the vent at the same time it clattered to the floor. She didn’t care if she wasn’t holding it yet, and she didn’t care if she didn’t  understand what the Inquisitor had said that made Kisurin break like that. She just knew that she had come here to rescue him and she was not going to let her kill him. By the time her feet had hit the ground, the blaster she had stolen from the stormtrooper was in her hands, firing at the Inquisitor. 

Apparently, the Inquisitor hadn’t noticed her, as evidenced by the surprise when she turned around, her deflection of the shots clumsy while she adjusted to Jacks’ presence. Jacks threw the blaster aside and called Kisurin’s lightsaber to her hand, igniting it just in time for its blue blade to block the Inquisitor’s attack on her.

“ Oh!” the Inquisitor  exclaimed . “So you  _did_ hear what I said about your master!” Her face was lit up with sadistic  excitement , her eyes an unnatural yellow that Jacks now knew was a marker of those corrupted by the Dark Side. “You’d best leave him here, padawan. He might kill you too!” She  laughed , attacking Jacks with blow after blow. 

Jacks held her ground, barely hearing what she was saying. It didn’t matter right now. She just wanted to keep Kisurin safe. Now that the Inquisitor was away from Kisurin, Rod was shooting at her again, and Jacks was thankful for his help in dividing her attention. She doubted she’d have been able to hold out against the Inquisitor without him.

He fired on e more shot, hitting the Inquisitor in the back of the knee before she could turn around to deflect it, and her leg buckling, dumping her onto her side, barely able to power off her double blades before they impaled her. Her face was shocked, disbelieving as Jacks stood over her, lightsaber raised to strike the finishing blow. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rod rush to Kisurin, and now that his blaster was no longer fixed on the Inquisitor, Jacks thought it best to disarm her, changing the trajectory of  the  blade’s strike to the powered-off saber in her hand. The sizzling of flesh and the Inquisitor’s scream told her she had hit more than just the lightsaber.

“Do it.” The Inquisitor commanded, clutching her now-injured hand, staring up at Jacks with an intense hatred. Jacks raised her lightsaber again, heart pounding in her chest. The look on her face... It was so much more satisfying than the grovelling, and begging, and clinging to her leg sobbing that she had experienced before with all those she had been tasked to kill, back in a different life. Back when she had to kill in order to have a place to stay. Back before Rod and Hohlan had found her, and back before the three of them had found Kisurin. Her grip on her saber tightened, her hands shaking.

“Jacks!”

Kisurin’s voice made her lift her head in his direction. He was standing with the help of Rod, and staring straight at her. She didn’t say anything in reply, so he continued.

“Are you going to strike her down?” His voice was emotionless and Jacks’ hands trembled more. His tone wasn’t accusatory, nor judgmental, but Jacks sensed he didn’t want her to. Why not, though? If she didn’t she’d try to kill them again, once she recovered. It was her call, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like Jacks hadn’t killed before.

Maybe that was it. Maybe this was the choice she had to make. Jedi or hunter. Would a Jedi kill an unarmed opponent? Probably not, right? Besides, from what Jacks knew of the Empire, the Inquisitor would probably be punished for this.

Fine. She would let her live. Powering off her blade, she stepped over the woman on the ground and back towards Kisurin, whose expression was still unreadable, though Jacks noted dried tears on his cheeks. So he _had_ been crying. Did that mean the things the Inquisitor had been saying were true? What had Kisurin done? From what she gathered... Had he killed Hamlen? Had he killed his own padawan?

As she reached Kisurin, Rod nodded his head at her. “Here, help me with him real quick.” He said and Jacks nodded, slipping Kisurin’s other arm over her shoulder. As soon as she did, she was thrown off balance by all of Kisurin’s weight on her as Rod walked away from them both, back towards the injured Inquisitor, who was getting back to her feet. Jacks watched in shock as Rod raised his rifle, placing it to the woman’s forehead, and pulling the trigger. She gasped, and felt Kisurin tense against her in surprise as the woman fell to the ground.

Rod turned back around, jaw set, shrugging his shoulders, though Jacks  could see a hint of guilt behind his eyes. “I’m a soldier, not a Jedi  like you two , and I’m not letting her hurt the man I love ever again.” He growled.

That was good enough for Jacks. Kisurin seemed to agree, as he had relaxed after the Inquisitor stopped moving, even offering Rod a small smile as he fell back into step beside them. As Jacks’ heart rate began to return to normal, she couldn’t help but think about how they would all need to have quite the talk once they got back to the _Javelin._


End file.
